PLACERVILLE, CA (4-11-15) – After two high profile events in a week, Placerville Speedway opened its Red Hawk Casino Championship point racing season presented by Thompson’s Auto Centers on Saturday night with four divisions of competition and a hearty car count in each of them. The event offered inflated winnings to each of the weekly division which in turn, produced an exciting night of racing for the weekly series in the 50th Anniversary Season.
In the Domco Plumbing Sprint Car Division Colby Wiesz of Colfax took command of the feature event to take home the $2000 win. Ryan McDaniel drove to victory in the Domco Plumbing Late Model feature to earn the $750 payout. Dan Jinkerson of Diamond Springs led every lap of the Jay’s Mobile Welding Pure Stock feature event to earn the $500 victory.
With 21 cars in the field in the Sprint Car Division Saturday night, all competitors were eligible for the feature event which produced its share of thrills and spills for all 25-laps. Wiesz started on the pole position and was immediately challenged by Elverta’s Steven Tiner who started on the outside of the front row.
In the opening laps, Placerville’s Andy Gregg muscled his way into the top three and the trio began battling for the top position, entering lapped traffic early. Earlier in the night Gregg earned the ADCO Driveline $100 Fast Time Award. As Wiesz worked his way into the slow traffic he began to stretch his lead over Tiner, Gregg and Elk Grove’s Greg DeCaires until the 7 lap mark when a red flag delayed the event for an accident in the third turn.
The accident originally involved James Sweeney who suffered front suspension failure and the loss of a front wheel traveling down the back stretch, launching him into the hillside of turn three in a wicked tumble. As Sweeney came to rest he collected Cameron Park’s Cody Spencer head on. Wiesz and Tiner dodged the incident but Gregg wasn’t so lucky as he tried to avoid the carnage and rolled over as well.
“James Sweeney was high enough in the air that I couldn’t even see him,” said Spencer. “I didn’t even know he was in trouble until his car landed directly in front of me and I had nowhere to go.”
The ensuing restart was delayed by a second red flag for roll over victim Bud Walberg of Corning. Walberg tumbled in the same turn as the others but suffered less extensive damage that the previous crash which totaled Sweeney’s car due to the impact of Spencer’s car directly into the engine compartment and against the front of the cockpit. Nobody was injured in either incident.
Once the green flag flew again, Wiesz began feeling the pressure DeCaires who worked his way by Tiner and began bidding for the lead. The two front runners raced side by side at several moments as DeCaires made a strong effort to slide below the leader with Tiner in their wake and Jake Morgan of Fair Oaks well in the mix of things challenging Tiner for the podium position.
At the checkered flag, Wiesz picked up the win over DeCaires. Tiner finished in third place with Morgan fourth and Wilton’s Matt Peterson who drove from12th to fifth at the flag.
“I’m not much of a big track guys and it’s always nice when you can race close to home for good money,” said Wiesz, as he donned the first Placerville Posse cowboy hat of the season. “I do my best on these bullring tracks and we’re planning on running here quite a bit this year. I made some mistakes out there and almost lost the lead to Greg (DeCaires). He was pushing hard but he’s a driver I have run with many years and you can run side by side like that and know he’s not going get into you. This was some good racing tonight and I want to thank all these fans that came out in the cold to support it so well.
With one Placerville Posse victory to his name now, Wiesz is poised to be a contender for the series ending bonus as well. Any driver who wins all four Placerville Posse events earns $2000, making their efforts worth a total of $10,000 for just four races. The next Placerville Posse installment will be Saturday, April 25.
In the Jay’s Mobile Welding Pure Stock Division, a huge field of 25 dent free cars formed the evening field and even required a semi-main event to narrow the field down to 20 for the $500 to win feature event. Jinkerson was fortunate to earn the second place starting position ahead of the heavy traffic that had its share of spins and collisions, nothing of serious nature.
Much like he did at the final event of last season, Jinkerson charged to the front of the pack and led every lap of the race from green flag to checkered. He was challenged by Elk Grove’s Lonnie Leonard and Matt Tilford of Citrus Heights who drove from ninth to third before the halfway point to challenge for the lead. Tilford fell out of contention when he car came to a stall on the 14th lap and he had to go to the rear of the field.
When green flag racing resumed, Jinkerson continued to dominate the lead, even with the new double file restarts throughout the night. Leonard finished second followed by defending champion Scott Grunert and Rick Grunert of Woodland. Russell Murphy wounded out the top five.
“We got a starting spot tonight up in front and the car was fast all night long,” said Jinkerson, who had mixed emotions on the new double file restarts. “They are nothing new to me as I was use to that in the asphalt racing days. It gives the guy in second a chance for sure but at the same time, many double file restarts result in a yellow flag with a crash. It’s good for the fans though so I’m all for trying it here.”
In the Domco Plumbing Late Model Division, Ryan McDaniel of Olivehurst jumped into the lead at the green flag and distanced himself from the mayhem that quickly broke out in his wake, including a collision that involved half the 15 car field in the first turn. Once green flag racing was underway, McDaniel was chased by Jeff Olshowka of Marysville and Folsom’s Dominic Stone in the top three.
At the finish line, McDaniel was followed by Olshowka and Stone at the finish line. Auburn’s Wayne Trimble finished in fourth place followed by Duane Cleveland of Plumas Lake. McDaniel picked up the $750 payday and spoke highly of the track’s sponsor in victory lane.
“Dominic Stone and Domco Plumbing deserves so much credit for all he does for this sport, he doesn’t get near the credit that equals all he does to make this place and this sport so much better,” said McDaniel, who is sponsored by Domco along with the track itself. “It’s great to have that in this sport and a lot of these guys couldn’t do this without him so a big thank you to him.”
The three track regulars were joined Saturday by the Midget Lites of the Bay Cities Racing Association. In this division, Scott Males of Elk Grove drove the Red Hawk Casino #9 locally owned by Tony Fonseca of Shingle Springs to victory lane. Males was followed by Logan Seavey of Sutter, Cory Andrews of Murrieta, Oakdale’s Craig Dillard and Brian Corso of Ripon.
“This is a great way to start of the season, driving this Red Hawk team into victory lane at the track where they are doing so much,” said Males. “I can’t thank them enough and all our sponsor along with the Fonseca family for the opportunity to drive this car this year. They’ve put a lot of effort into this season ahead and I’m looking forward to it.”
Racing resumes at Placerville Speedway this Saturday, April 18th as the championship season resumes with the first point race for sprint cars who will be joined by Late Models, Pure Stocks and the Nor Cal Dwarf Cars. The gates will open at 5 p.m. with qualifying starting at 6:30. For further information visit www.placervillespeedway.com or follow the track on Facebook and Twitter.
Placerville Speedway Fast Facts:
Next Event:
Saturday, April 18. Red Hawk Casino Championship Point Race #2.
360 Sprints, Limited Late Models, Pure Stocks, Dwarf Cars
Gates open 5 p.m. Qualifying at 6:30. Racing at 7 p.m.
Our 50th Anniversary Season Corporate Partners:
• Placerville Speedway is sponsored by the Red Hawk Casino. Located off Highway 50 just west of Placerville Speedway, Red Hawk Casino is the Sacramento area’s premier gambling destination and has been voted Northern California’s Best Casino four years in a row. For information on upcoming entertainment and promotions visit them at www.redhawkcasino.com
• Thompsons Auto and Truck Centers of El Dorado County is the presenting sponsor of the 2015 racing season at the El Dorado County Fairgrounds. Thompsons, a name, family and a tradition of excellence to provide all your automotive sales and service needs at Thompsons Toyota, Thompsons Buick GMC and the new Thompson’s Chrysler Dodge Jeep in Placerville.
• Domco Plumbing and Septic is the proud sponsor of Placerville Speedway’s Sprint Car and Late Model Divisions. Serving El Dorado, Placer and Sacramento County, Domco Plumbing the areas full service plumbing and septic service for all your needs both residential and commercial.
• Jay’s Mobile Welding of Folsom is the 2015 Pure Stock Division sponsor at Placerville Speedway. Jay’s Mobile Welding provides all types of welding fabrication and repairs throughout the Sacramento Valley and El Dorado County.
• ADCO Driveline and Custom Exhaust is Placerville Speedway’s official Fast Time Sponsor for the 2015 Racing Season. ADCO Driveline is celebrating 40 years of service in El Dorado County and is a longtime supporter of local racing in the form of track and driver sponsorship.
• Riebes Auto Parts is a proud partner of Placerville Speedway. Riebes Auto Parts sponsors the Placerville Posse series throughout 2015 as well as the Kid’s Dash events and additional bonus winnings throughout the season to come including the Tribute to Donnie Tilford and the Tribute Al Hinds events.
• The Mountain Democrat and Life Newspaper Group is Placerville Speedway’s Media Partner in El Dorado County along with Foothill 7 Television
Further Information:
Web:
For additional information and complete results and information visit www.placervillespeedway.com
Social:
Like Placerville Speedway on Facebook at www.facebook.com/placervillespeedway
Follow Placerville Speedway on Twitter for event updates @pvllspeedway
Results:
Weekly Live Timing: www.race-monitor.com
- Bill Sullivan on Apr 12, 2015
- Article Date: 4/12/2015